Practice Makes Peace in Casa

Coming right after the festive flurry of the holiday season, January is always an energetic, fun and busy time, and it can sometimes be hard to get settled back into our day-to-day routines in the classroom. In Casa, we have always found ways to practice peace and to center ourselves; these practices are especially important and helpful in re-setting the tone of our classroom community. 

Peace Education is an important component of the Montessori curriculum; it can be summed up as “anything that teaches anyone how to be more peaceful with themselves, others, and the world.”  

Peace reveals itself in many ways in the Casa classroom.  We have a dedicated Peace Table with activities rotated frequently, for fostering peace. Our Peace Table is a place a child can go to be alone and find their inner calmness, away from the buzz of others who are working away in the classroom. 

We also have a Peace Rug, called the “Silence Rug” by the children.  It is a place where a child can lie down, take off their shoes and close their eyes or even do a yoga pose.  The “silence” sign is there as a reminder to curious friends that the person on the Peace Rug is wanting some time to be alone, be quiet and to refocus themselves. 

We often play the Silence Game as a group and learn to quiet our body, listen carefully to our environment, and focus.  It is amazing to listen to the sounds of birds and even insects just outside our classroom window when we are quiet. 

When the children are peaceful and considerate of their peers, they learn how to work as a community, help one another, and talk and listen to to each other when there is a conflict.

As Dr. Montessori said: “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is to keep us out of war.” Please CLICK HERE to read more about Montessori Peace Education.

We had an interesting start to 2022 and just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who helped ensure a peaceful, happy start in January in Casa. Of course, the children led the way and took all changes in stride; they so enjoyed meeting and working with new people such as Ms. Cici and Ms. Bex. Ms. Bex’s temporary foray into Spanish – with lessons conducted in her trademark musical and dramatic way – were real crowd-pleasers, along with Ms. Michelle’s dynamic and fun P.E. classes! Thank you!